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Published on: June 13, 2017
Safety Profile in Hyaluronic Acid-Based Vocal Fold Injection Augmentation
Noah Thornton1, Ryan Stepp1, Vincent Nguyenkhoa1
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
Objective:
The study's objective is to assess the safety profile and complication rates of hyaluronic acid-based vocal fold injection augmentation (VFIA), specifically evaluating inflammatory reactions, injection volume, and COVID-19 vaccination status.
Methods:
A retrospective cohort study was conducted of 299 VFIA procedures performed using Restylane-L at a single academic institution. Medical charts were reviewed to collect patient demographics, injection details (approach, location, and volume), videolaryngostroboscopy exams, and post-injection outcomes, including complication rates and nature of inflammatory reactions.
Results:
The overall complication rate was 4.0% (12/299), with inflammatory complications comprising 2.34% (7/299) of cases. Inflammatory symptoms developed a mean of 4.3 days after injection (median: 3 days; range: 12 h-10 days) and resolved in all cases with corticosteroid therapy. A statistically significant difference in injection volume was noted among groups (p = 0.037), although post hoc comparisons did not demonstrate significance. COVID-19 vaccination status was not associated with complication rates (p = 0.84).
Conclusions:
VFIA using HA-based material demonstrates a low rate of complications, and all inflammatory reactions resolved with medical management. Injection volume may play a role in complication risk, but further multi-site studies are needed. No association between COVID-19 vaccination and adverse outcomes was identified.
